NEW DELHI: Arshdeep Singh has time and again proved his worth whenever he has been given an opportunity, yet the young pacer has often found himself missing from the playing XI in white-ball cricket.

His continued omission has not gone down well with experts and fans on social media, many of whom have struggled to understand the team management's logic in keeping Arshdeep on the bench.

In the third and final ODI against New Zealand in Indore, the left-arm pacer was finally included, replacing Prasidh Krishna, and he made an immediate impact in the very first over. Once again, Arshdeep showed his value and reaffirmed his status as India's go-to bowler in the ODI powerplay.

Arshdeep struck to dismiss Kiwi opener Henry Nicholls for a golden duck. Arshdeep angled the ball in from close to the off stump, getting it to seam away from Nicholls. Caught in two minds over whether to play or leave, Nicholls pulled his bat back late, only for the ball to take an inside edge and clip the leg stump.

Across 57 overs in the first 10, the left-armer has picked up 13 wickets at an impressive average of 20.53, striking every 26.3 balls.

What stands out even more is his control - an economy of just 4.68, with over 70 percent dot balls and a false-shot rate close to 29 percent. In the phase where momentum is usually seized by batters, Arshdeep has consistently applied the brakes, setting the tone for India early on.